Georgian fairytale recordings to be released online

Dozens of new audio recordings of Georgian fairytales will be released online by the National Archives of Georgia within the framework of a project aiming to promote the rich collections preserved at the venue.

Narrated by popular Georgian theatre and cinema actors, over 30 tales will be recorded in audio format and released to users of the National Archives website and social media pages.

The tales will also be released on CD format and be available for visitors of the recently opened exhibition pavilion of the National Archives in Tbilisi.

A fairytale narration is being recorded on audio within the National Archives project. Photo: National Archives of Georgia.

The initiative is a continuation of the archive’s 2014 project that digitised nearly 100 Soviet-era audio recordings of children’s tales in Georgian.

Originally recorded from 1960s-1980s by the Soviet studio Melodia, the digitised material was released on the web and made accessible for free to all interested users.

In a parallel but separate initiative, the venue is also in the process of digitising its archive of Soviet-era Georgian film strips.

An artwork from Soviet-era Georgian filmstrip.

The National Archives’ collection of over 150 film strip productions will be combined with audio recordings featuring narration of their stories to "breathe new life” into the 1970s and 1980s animated films, said organisers of the project.

The film strip collections of the National Archives recently became the subject of an exhibition at the venue.

Held in December 2016, the public event hosted a display of pieces from nearly 60 film strip productions based on Georgian fairytales and stories.